Samsung to launch handset with curved display

It’s tough to make a new smartphone stand out from the crowd. Samsung’s answer? Ditch the flat screen.

Samsung/YouTube

Samsung shows flexible \’YOUM\’ display at CES in January.

A Samsung
handset with a curved screen will go on sale in South Korea in October, the electronics company revealed on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

No word, though, on when it’ll appear in the U.S. from D.J. Lee, the company’s mobile business head of strategic marketing, who announced the curveball at a Galaxy Note 3 launch in Seoul.

When they go shopping, phone buyers these days are faced with a sea of pretty similar-looking handsets, analysts say — a sign that innovation has dried up in the industry. Even style leader Apple
has taken some knocks for a lack of creativity (though 9 million in opening-weekend iPhone 5 sales suggest it’s not time to start worrying yet).

With the gently curved screen, Samsung is reaching for a “hero” feature that’ll catch eyes and open wallets.

\”From a consumer perspective, I don\’t know how useful it\’s going to be. But it\’s a way for Samsung to differentiate their devices,\” Mykola Golovko, a Euromonitor senior analyst, told CNBC.

Not that Samsung hasn’t tried other ploys — the newly launched Note 3 is just the latest in its line of phones with larger displays, and it’s also releasing its first smartwatch.

Lee didn’t bring a curvy handset to the launch party, so we don’t know what it’ll look like. But there may be some clues in a presentation Samsung gave at the CES show in January, where it showed off a “Youm” prototype model with a somewhat flexible display. Take a look at the YouTube video below for a look at what the South Korean electronics maker is aiming for.

If that feature doesn\’t pay off, Samsung has another trick up its sleeve. If a tweet from @SamsungMobileArabia is anything to go by, it’s about to follow Apple by making a gold version of its flagship Galaxy S4 phone.

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